Jeakum atkins



N.PErERS. PHOYo-LITNOGRAPHEH, WASHINGTON. n a.

.JE-Annu ATKINS, 0F WASHINGTON, merisier` or COLUMBIA Letters .Patent No. 7 9,431, dated June 30, 1868.

IMPROVEMENT IN LOW-WATER ALARMS FOB. BOILERS.

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. Beit known that I, JEARUM ATKINS, o f Washington, in the county of Washington, and District of Columbia, have invented 'a new and useful Improvement in Low-Water Alarms and I do hereby declarethe following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in-whichi Figure 1 is a perspective view oi' my apparatus in operative condition.

Figure is a vertical longitudinal section of the same. i

Figure 3 is a vertical cross-section of the same.

Figure 4 is an elevation of the alarm-whistle and its cock. Y

Figures 5, 6,' 7, 8, 9, and 10 are vertical and 'crossgsections of the inletaud outlet-cochon the bottom of the apparatus. f

gThe' object of my, invention is to construct e. low-water alarm for vsteam-generators, Withthe following qual-v ities: First, 4accessibility at all times, for thepurpose of testng operative condition or forrepair; second,'sensi tivene'ss; third, durability; fnurth,'operativ epower. I

These qualities are all of them necessary to form a reliable alarm, and-are, so far as I am aware, mostly if not altogether ,absent from all of the devices hitherto made fo'r this purpose. i'

The principal characteristic of my invention is, that the limitedpov'er of a float, or other analogous device dependent4 for its operation uponthe quantity of walter within vthe boiler, is employed simply to unlock, as it `were, the mechanism which vis afterwards tobe pnt in motion by steainat boiler-pressure. By these means l: secure sensitiveness and; operative power, and by locting my apparatns'entirely outside ot' the boiler, I render it accessible at all times for trial `or repair.v

A low-water alarm, which depends upon' thc operation of a. float enclosed within the boiler, is always subject to various defects, which will impair its eiiciency andrender it unreliable-` The oet is usually constructed in spherical form, of thin metal, nndfis frequently collapsed by the'steam-pressure, If made with thickness of' -metalsuicient to enable it `to withstpnd the s tcam'-pr`essure,`then it ivill be deficient in buoyancy, and in any v event its available power is butlittle, it' any, greater than is necessary to overcome thefriction'in moving the mechanism of the alarm.. This friction is at all'times liable to be increased by sedimentary deposits from the' water, and said deposits are v'ery frequently` suicient to prevent all motion of `the alarm-mechanism. W'hen these operative parts are within the boiler, andvsteam isbeing generated, they are inaccessible to the engineer, Aand he is unable to ascertain their condition. He-cannot know whether or not'thefiloatjhas been collapsed, or if scale has cemented the joints'so that it cannot operate. sedimentary depositsare the principal canseof ineciency in instruments of thisv class, andere only-to be obvintcd by making the apparatus alwaysaccessible for inspection. I

My'n'pparetus is calculated to obvia-te all of the abovementioned defects.

' Ais the head of a steam-boiler, and B is an`V ordinary alarm-whistle, mounted upon' the top of said boiler, and talr'ing'stoam therefrom in the usual nay.

The cock Ciof the whistle B is opcratedby the lever D; attached to said cock, and the connecting-rod E, which couples said lever with the rod'l oi' the pistonfll, which works inthe small cylinder Gr. The cylinder vGr stands unen the box Il, attached to the outerside of'tlie boiler. or its neighboring parts, and connected with the j #atm-*Splice of said boiler, throughtheport I, loca-ted' at the lowest safe water-mark,l and with thesteam-space of said boiler by the pipe V.- Water will s tandinsaid box at a height level with the surface of the water in the boiler, and'when the water inthe boiler'- falls so ,low as to uncover the portl, then the steam will till the box instead.' I' i v The port-.I may be Aclosed by turni'ngthe cock-plug J, `which is also provided'wi'th the port L and vent DI, which muy be opened to' permit the enclosed,waterto4 escape from the bo'X-yvhen 1t 1s desired 'to test the condi. tion of the apparatus. The vent M may be openedv either while the port I is also open, or wbilethe steam-pipe V has a stop-cock, by which steam may be cut oi from the box H,.as shown in iig. 2.

fthe plug .I is made with only a single-way port at L, the szime results may be attained, either by the V is open, so that whatever sediment may..be loose inn-the box, may with ease be Ablown out; and this may be accomplished by a'varietyo'f modes of cons`truction',as, for instance, the port L may be made two ways, as shown in igs. 6, 7, 9, and I0, so that` when in position figs. 2 and 6, port I will be open, andl port L will be closed. When in position figs. 5 and 7, both ports,"I a'.nd L, will be open, and the contents-of the box would be blown out; while in position figs. 9 and .10, port I would boelosed and port L will beopen. The steam-pipe insertion. of a. 'counterfcock at W, or by so arranging the ports that certain positions of the plu'g will openor close either or both of the ports.A

At the vcentre of the back of the box4 I-I, and projectingforward'therefrom, is the s tud N, vto the fro'ut endv A of which I pi'vot the lever O,- and this lever bearsvat oneV end the hollow metallimshell K,.andat the'other end the solid counterpoise P. The shell K is made of metal sullicient in thickness to render it proof against all mechanical or other injuries to which it can ordinarily be exposed, and'whichA might fotherwise disable it. vIt

` may becast hollow, or it mayLbe constructed in any other desirable way.- vThe countcrpoise If" regulates. the

buoyancyof the shell K asmay 'bede'sir'ed, though it is only required or'dcsirable that it should be suiciently buoyant to rise with certainty when the water rises in the box.

A small port, R, communicates with the bottom of the cylinder` G, beneaththe piston 4Fand this port is closed by the, upper end of the valve-rod S, which is-attached at its lowerend vby a joint to'the lever 0, at a point'between the shell K and the pin upon which said lever` moves, sothat as said shell rises, the por-tilt will be closed, and as the shell sinks, the port will be uncovered. i

The' operations ofthe parts above described will he easily understood. Suppose the cock in the pipe V to be closed, vthen communication with the steam-space will be cut o. Suppose, also, that the water in the boiler stands4 at or above the level of the top'of the box H. The ioat K will then have risen with, the water until its' upward movement is arrested by the rod S, closing the port The .port R will remain closed until the water in the boiler andibo'x H has fallen below the-point of buoyancy of the float K', when the' latter willr immediately begin to sink, and withdrawtherod S from thev fork R. No effect will be observed,howev'cr, until the water in the boiler has fallen so as to uncover the portI, when steam will 'pass into the box H, and through the port-Ii.

into the cylinder G, aud-the piston F will be forced upward immediately, and the cock lG will be opened, and an Valarm sounded by the whistle B.

In practice, however, the steam-pipe V would be always open, and steam would be always presentin .the-

to p oi the box H as'so'on as the water had fallen below the top of the same, and therefore the piston F would be` operated as s oon as the sinking of the shell should uncover the port R, and the alarm would the'n be sounded before the extreme low-water mark would be reached.

To test the operative condition of the apparatus it would only be required that the port I should be closed.:

and theport L opened,'so as to let the enclosed water'escape'. The shell K would then sink and uncover the port R, andthe st'eamfrom the pipe V'would immediately operate the piston F and sound the-whistle, as though the water were low in the boiler. If-upon this test the piston F is not-raised,nor the whistle sounded,` then the engineer is at once aware that `the apparatus is obstructed, and byshutting olf the steam through the pipe Y, l and removing the cover a, he may without diiliculty or lossoftime make the 'necessary adjustmenter repairs.

Admission of water to the box immediately raiseslthe loatand closes theport R, and then, by opening theA lcock the steam' within the cylinder may escape, and the piston 'bo depressed by the hand.

Now, it will rcadilybe perceived that, instead of depending upon the slight and unreliable power 4of a float' to open the cock C to sound the'whistle, I secure a power equal to thesteamfpressure inthe boiler to turn said cock, andit may readily be assumed that no friction from`clogging or otherwise can obstruct the movement of said cock in opposition to such a power, while the slight force required to he exerted'by theoat K to move upon its own pivot, and to withdraw the valvelrodS, wil-l not be neutralized by any deposits or'corrosion which can occur within the box H. Insteadv of hanging the lever O 'upona pin, friction may be still further reduced byhanging saidy arm upon kuifc-edges. v

Inail of 'thc figures, excepting iig;I 1, vthe apparatus is represented fullsize.

Not a small item among the advantages of'this apparatus is its small site, compact form, and easy construction. i

It is evident that the above-described apparatusl may be employed for other purposes than those described, ns inopening a feed-watervalve, tc.

Hiring described my invention, what I claimas ne\v, is-.

1. The combination of the following devices in a 1ow-water alarnzi` for s.teamgenerators,.vi z, thebox H, passages Ianfl V, each-with a cock, float K, valve S, port R, cylinder G,'piston F, connected to the lever ofthe alarm-cock, a discharge-port from cylinder G, closed or opened by cockU, discharge-port L, anddetachable cover d, or the equivalents of these parts.,

2. Theconstruction vof the cock-J', with the ports I and L, ns described, in combination withthe box H, substantially as set forth.

3. The tubular piston-rod T with the cockU, substantially asset forth.

I' i i JEARUM ATKINS.v

Witnesses ANnanw'WnirsLnr,

DLO. Samen.4 

